and the farmer who owned the field charged them for admission. Soldiers from a nearby barracks kept the public from getting too close to the biplane. As the sun fell the wind grew in strength, and at 7:00 pm Grahame-White conceded that the high winds made any further progress impossible. He decided to try again at 3:00 am, hoping to reach Manchester by the 5:15 am deadline, but at 3:30 am he abandoned the attempt, and said that he would travel to Manchester and try again from there. He ordered the soldiers to peg the aeroplane down, but his instructions were ignored; the next night it was blown over by strong winds and severely damaged. Paulhan's attempt Grahame-White's biplane was returned to London, and on 25 April was being repaired at Wormwood Scrubs, in the Daily Mail hangar. Paulhan arrived at Dover from California, where he performed exhibition flights. Another competitor, Emile Dubonnet, also formally entered the contest, and was due to try a few days later. On 27 April 1910 Paulhan's biplane (a newer model than Grahame-White's) was brought to Hendon, on the site of what is now the London branch of the Royal Air Force Museum. It was assembled in less than 11 hours, and at 5:21 pm that day Paulhan took off for Hampstead Cemetery, his official starting line. He arrived there ten minutes later, flew on to Harrow, and began to follow the route of the London and North Western Railway. The railway company prepared for the event by whitewashing the sleepers of the correct line for the competitors to follow. Paulhan was followed by a special train, on board which were Mme. Paulhan and Henry Farman. Other members of his party followed by car. Grahame-White attempted to make a test flight earlier that day, but the huge crowds hampered his efforts, and he was unable to take off. Having spent two days supervising the reconstruction of his aeroplane, he retired to a nearby hotel. At about 6:10 pm he was awakened with the news that Paulhan had begun his attempt, and he decided to set off in pursuit. This time he had no trouble clearing a space in the crowd. His biplane's engine was started, and by 6:29 pm he passed the starting line. Almost an hour later he flew over Leighton Buzzard, just as Paulhan was passing over Rugby. As night approached, Grahame-White landed